Licensing a Module

Whether your module refuses to run unlicensed is your decision, and so is the server that decides it.

Overview

WISECP publishes no licence protocol for the products it sells for you. You choose the address, the fields that go with the question, and what an answer means.

Two things are ours. Encryption: mark the files that must not ship readable and the packager encodes them. The carrier is optional, and it remembers the answer for a day.

$answer = \License::remote_check('https://your-site.example/license/check', ['domain' => \Utility::getDomain()]);

if ($answer === null)                    return true;   // could not ask
if (trim($answer['body']) !== 'OK')      return false;  // your server said no

return true;

Your own curl is equally welcome. What matters is where the decision sits: inside a file you marked, so the operator cannot delete it.

Prerequisites

Structure

Four pieces carry the feature; the first three are yours.

The cache sits in its own folder on purpose. Admin operations clear the cache with no arguments several times a day. An answer parked there would go with the rest.

Walkthrough

Put the gate where the value is

Gate the thing the customer paid for, not the module's existence. Treat "could not ask" as its own answer: a host with no curl sends exactly that.

/* @wisecp-protected */

private function licensed(): bool
{
    $answer = \License::remote_check('https://your-site.example/license/check', [
        'product' => 'aurora-backup',
        'domain'  => \Utility::getDomain(),
    ]);

    // Could not ask. Your outage is not the customer's fault, so this stays open.
    if ($answer === null) return true;

    return $answer['status'] === 200 && trim($answer['body']) === 'OK';
}

public function adminArea(): array
{
    if (!$this->licensed())
        return [
            'page_title' => $this->lang['name'] ?? 'Aurora Backup',
            'content'    => $this->view('unlicensed.php'),
        ];

    return [
        'page_title' => $this->lang['name'] ?? 'Aurora Backup',
        'content'    => $this->view('index.php'),
    ];
}

Mark every file that must not ship readable

The packager cannot know which file carries your check. Your helper's name is yours and the call appears in one file only. So you declare it. Put the marker on its own line at the top of each file you would not hand over.

/* @wisecp-protected */      // the module class, hooks.php, a helper — any PHP file

PHP only. Templates are not encoded, whatever engine they use. The engine compiles them to plain PHP on disk first, so a secret written into one is readable there. Keep decisions in PHP.

The marker is a promise: a build that cannot protect a marked file is refused.

Reference

What the carrier remembers

The cache file is encrypted and signed with the installation's own secret, and the envelope names the question. A file lifted from another installation and renamed answers for nothing. There is no grace window.

Asking an endpoint of your own

Where the check goes is your decision, and so is what an answer means. This carries the question and holds traffic to one call a day.

public static function remote_check(string $url, array $fields = [], bool $always = false, array $options = []): ?array;

The address, fields, method and headers together are the cache identity. An authenticated call is remembered apart from an anonymous one.

$answer = \License::remote_check(
    'https://your-site.example/license/check',
    ['product' => 'aurora-backup', 'domain' => \Utility::getDomain()],
    false,
    ['headers' => ['Authorization: Bearer ' . $this->vendor_key()]]
);

if ($answer === null)         return true;      // could not ask; your outage, not the customer's fault
if ($answer['status'] !== 200) return false;    // 401, 403, 404 — your server said something else

$data = \Utility::jdecode($answer['body'], true);

return (bool) ($data['valid'] ?? false);

Example

A complete paid module, gated end to end. The admin screen and the scheduled run ask the same question. A gate on one alone is not a gate.

<?php
    namespace WISECP\Modules\Addons;

    use AddonModule;
    use Filter;

    /* @wisecp-protected */
    class AuroraBackup extends AddonModule
    {
        public string $version = '1.2';

        /** Your address, your fields, your reading of the answer. */
        private function licensed(): bool
        {
            $answer = \License::remote_check('https://vendor.example/license/check', [
                'product' => 'aurora-backup',
                'domain'  => \Utility::getDomain(),
            ]);

            // Could not ask. Your outage is not the customer's fault.
            if ($answer === null) return true;

            return $answer['status'] === 200 && trim($answer['body']) === 'OK';
        }

        public function adminArea(): array
        {
            $action = Filter::init('REQUEST/action', 'route') ?: 'index';
            if (!$this->licensed()) $action = 'unlicensed';

            return [
                'page_title' => $this->lang['name'] ?? 'Aurora Backup',
                'content'    => $this->view($action . '.php'),
            ];
        }

        /** The scheduled half. A cron run must not act on an expired licence either. */
        public function run_backup(): bool
        {
            if (!$this->licensed())
                throw new \Exception($this->lang['error-not-licensed'] ?? 'Not licensed.');

            // ...
            return true;
        }
    }

The scheduled path is gated too. A gate on the admin screen alone leaves the paid work running for a licence that lapsed months ago.

Pitfalls

Related Articles

• Licensing a Marketplace Product
• Packaging a Module for Distribution
• Shipping Module Updates
• Module Anatomy
• Adding an Admin Page
• Module Configuration
• Security Practices